Rotting Land: Survive

The reunited survivors methodically finished off the remaining beasts, ensuring no enemies escaped outside the factory district before Lao Lin and the others turned their attention to the building inside.

Old Xu parked the car at the entrance of the factory to ensure a quick escape if anything happened.

After parking, he instructed, "Xiaoxin, Hua Biao, go in and check out the situation."

Following the command, Li Xiaoxin and Hua Biao raised their blades and cautiously entered the factory.

They didn’t go far, stopping after about ten steps.

Li Xiaoxin turned back and gave a signal to his comrades outside, indicating they should be prepared.

"Phew~" Exhaling deeply, Li Xiaoxin gave Hua Biao a thumbs-up, and the two raised their steel blades and struck the machinery in front of them.

"Clang, clang, clang." Since zombies outside the factory had been cleared, Li Xiaoxin and Hua Biao were not worried about attracting more zombies with the noise.

However, Old Xu at the main entrance watched nervously to ensure zombies from the adjacent building weren’t lured over.

With the clanging of the blades, the once silent factory became somewhat noisy.

This was the intended result for Li Xiaoxin and Hua Biao since, according to zombies’ keen sense of sound, they would definitely be "curious" and come to check if they heard any noise.

This saved the survivors the risk of having to inspect each part individually.

Yet after a while of knocking, no zombies emerged from the factory.

"Alright! Xiao Li!" Lao Lin called, stopping Li Xiaoxin’s actions.

Close to a minute of clanging should have been enough to pique the zombies’ interest.

As they hadn’t come by now, it indicated the interior was relatively safe.

Since it seemed safe, Lao Lin and the others immediately reformed in their initial groups and began sweeping through the factory.

Unfortunately, there was nothing of value inside. The survivors moved on to another location.

They used the same method, first sending someone in to make noise to lure any zombies, and if nothing happened, the survivors would search thoroughly.

Using this method, all the major buildings in the factory area were searched, revealing nothing of use.

It wasn’t surprising, as a factory like this likely wouldn’t allow employees to bring personal items inside. At least eating and drinking wouldn’t occur inside the factory.

In other words, the factory likely had a canteen for the employees to dine.

Sure enough, at the back of the factory area, the survivors quickly found two self-built houses, one labeled "Canteen" and the other "Office."

The Survivor Squad first entered the "Canteen," only to be forced out by the rotten stench inside.

After withdrawing, Lao Lin held his breath and took a glance inside, seeing nothing but skeletons and bones, with dried blood sprawled like an ink painting on the ground, walls, and everywhere else.

Seeing this scene, even the Survivor Squad members, who had witnessed countless horrors, couldn’t help but shiver.

Undoubtedly, there had been a hellish massacre at the "Canteen."

Based on past experiences, Tang Xiaoquan could mostly deduce what had transpired here.

Most of the survivors in the factory had likely gathered in this canteen after the apocalypse, surviving off the supplies inside.

For some unknown reason, perhaps the door was breached or someone inside mutated, a tragedy struck, and ultimately the people, who had once dined there, became zombie fodder.

It’s somewhat absurd, even laughable, but more than anything, it’s a tragedy.

However, the dead are gone, and the living must move on. Tang Xiaoquan didn’t dwell on mourning these strangers. His only concern was how much food was left in the back room of the canteen.

Because knowing Old Xu and the rest, if today’s rescue mission succeeded, they would likely bring those students back.

Although he personally didn’t agree with this "benevolent" act, as part of the team, he had to maintain the core leadership of Old Xu and the others.

As the saying goes, a country cannot last a day without a ruler, nor can a team go without a leader. The importance of Old Xu and the others to the group was self-evident.

"Old Lin, Old Xu, let’s go in and have a look. Since it’s a canteen, there might be stored grain."

Upon hearing Tang Xiaoquan’s suggestion, Lin and Xu exchanged a look, after which Old Xu nodded, went back to the car, and retrieved some spare clothes. He tore them into strips, dampened them, and distributed them to everyone.

Finally, he gestured for everyone to cover their faces, serving as makeshift masks.

Once everyone was ready, Old Xu led the charge with his blade.

Despite the deathly appearance of this "Asura Field," there might still be hidden dangers.

The canteen was not small, but its layout was simple, with the back hall accessible through the main hall.

However, compared to the scale of the hall, the conditions of the back hall were truly unspeakable.

Old Xu could almost imagine how terrible the hygiene must have been here at the onset of the apocalypse.

But persistent effort pays off, and fortune seemed to favor the survivors for their struggles.

As such, Old Xu and his companions were fortunate enough to find a substantial amount of supplies in the back hall. After bringing them out, Old Xu roughly calculated that aside from negligible items like oil, salt, and condiments, there were over ten bags of rice and flour.

Gazing at the small half-warehouse filled with grain, Old Xu couldn’t help but feel it had been worthwhile, while also feeling sorrow for the tragically deceased.

It was certain they didn’t last long in the canteen before falling to zombies; otherwise, they wouldn’t have left so much rice and flour.

"Alright! Let’s check the last building!" At Old Xu’s command, the Survivor Squad approached the final building.

Said to be a building, it was actually a row, but the original structure was divided into four rooms.

The four rooms were labeled: "General Manager’s Office," "Accounting Office," "Trade Department," and "Conference Room."

The survivors split into two teams, investigating from both ends.

Old Xu, along with Wei Dazhuang and Hua Biao, chose the General Manager’s Office, while Lao Lin took Wang Qiang and Tang Xiaoquan to the "Conference Room."

Kicking the door of the General Manager’s Office, a foul odor rushed out, much like in the canteen.

Holding his breath, Old Xu entered to find a dried corpse on the floor, but as he glanced around, something caught his attention.

"Captain! A gun!"

Without Hua Biao’s reminder, Old Xu had already noticed the gun in the corpse’s hand.

Bending down, he pried open the fingers and pulled the gun free to check the magazine: empty.

Clearly, this person had committed desperate suicide.

Sigh! Privately owning a gun should result in execution. This was fitting punishment, a deserved end for you.

He lamented briefly before stowing the gun away. This replica weapon just needed some maintenance and could be useful in a pinch.

Next came the search, and it could be said that Old Xu was having great luck today. Without much effort, he found half a bottle of red wine on the shelf, and a whole case of Moutai beneath the shelf, courtesy of Hua Biao. These were probably used by the factory owner to maintain relations with relevant departments. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)